….the opener against Rockies also won.

I apologize for the lack of posts due to a personal bereavement. I did, however catch all of the cards games over the weekend and have watched a repeat of the opener against the Rockies. The lineup is hitting well, the defense is ok – except for Duncan who really appears to be struggling to adjust to playing the outfield. I know that he played a lot out there last year as well as this year but he is primarily a first-baseman and since he will never get a start at first-base he will just have to try and do his best as a reserve OF.

Onto more positive things. Albert has obviously impressed me and i didnt think i could be impressed any more by the guy – he hits a monster HR on Saturday followed by a great heads-up baserunning play last night – the guy can do it all. Molina’s throw out on Sunday was terrific. Off balance and still managed to get the base-stealing cubbie at second A couple of the guys need to get out of hitting slumps but overall the ball-club is running well and we have won the joint most games in baseball – doesnt that feel pretty good.

Onto game 2 tonight against the Rockies where Looper goes and hopefully the ground ball looper will show up tonight not the HR 8 runs Looper that sometimes appears.

I will post after the series is done on this long road trip for the Cards…

until then…

I think i saw…

WILT – Rachel Stacy – Tiara 

I didnt get around to the preview. So it was a cards walk off win in game 1. Rich Hill didnt manage to make it out of the first. Wainwright who has struggled so much against Chicago pitching, did so well to limit the Cubs to just one run. Izzy had another BS but i still believe that the cards should stick with him for now. Then, Skip comes up big with a walk off hit again – this time a HR. I really like the idea of rotating the OF, they all are doing so well and con tributing so well for the team. Tonight, the hero could be Duncan or Ankiel or Ludwick or Barton. The point is the entire squad can contribute, and its gonna be another exciting game tonight covered by FOX.

Lohse goes up against the struggling Ted Lilly in what looks like a banker win for the Cards. However, nothing in baseball is certain and it will require a good pitching performance from Kyle to limit this Chicago offense who lead the entire ML in runs and in batting AVG. We will also have to get to Lilly early and not to let him settle into any kind of rhythm. My prediction is that we will win 6-3 today, with Lohse going 7 innings giving up just 2 ER.

I will post later after the game

Until then…

I think i saw…

WILT – Placebo – Broken Promise

Rick Ankiel has certainly been hot this series against the Reds. He has been the difference for sure in us winning the 3 game set. To be honest though, everyone has been hot, noone played poorly, made errors or pitched badly at all. Izzy, Reyes and Ludwick had frustralting moments in the series. I didnt, like the look of todys game when we went 2-0 behind but it just shows the character of the team that we can win from behind as well as from the front. La Russa has shown that his lineup is not predictable every game as he had miles batting second today – and has had a number of different batters in front and behind of Pujols this year so far. Versatility is key for this team, we have players who can play 2/3 positions, guys with pure speed and guys with a lot of power. I really like our chances of winning the division. I thought Looper did ok today, not the best game that he will pitch by a mile but it was effective in him outpitching Harang. Ive also seen the reds quite a bit this year and they do not have a lot of luck in games – well hit balls never find gaps and they also have guys who can clear the fences. The cubs next and i will do a preview on how i think the series will go tomorrow – a must read post.

Positives – Good spirit, Great hitting and pitching – quality all through the team

Negatives – Players able to pick themselves up after a bad outing

Final – Cincinatti Reds 2 St Louis Cardinals 5

Until tomorrow…

I think i saw…

WILT – Carrie Underwood – Inside Your Heaven

Bottom line 2/3. Took some drama to get there though. Cards lost the Friday night game in the ninth after Looper had made his best start of the year. A shame that Izzy couldnt hold on for him. However, much to the debate – izzy is our closer and so, he isnt going to put up the best PCT in saves per opportunities this year, he will get saves and hes one of the best at putting bad outings behind him.

Then the madness started. Ausmus,needs a chill pill. Wainwright clearly didnt throw the ball intentionally at him – i dont think he could do it even if he wanted to – its not his style. I cant remeber that he has ever hit anyone intentionally, if he did want to hit someone, why hit Ausmus, hes rubbish – they would have had to bring Towles off the bench and that wouldnt have been good. Adam being the professional he is went on to complete the game and show why he is a cy young contender. Im glad skip managed to pull off the crucial hit that won him the game.

Sunday, Backe evidentally through at Molina. Its not coinidental that the catchers are getting all the wild pitches – and the ball after he called time, sorry, im not buying that. Lohse did a great job in starting and he was backed up by some good relief pitching. Unfortunately, my MLB.TV was down so i couldnt watch but the radio was still working which was a godsend – i was not happy at the time. Still 2/3 isnt bad at all – just need to go on a run this week and streak into first.

At least the cubbies runs have dried up at last – Go Cards

Until next time…

I think i saw…

WILT – Taylor Swift – Stay Beautiful   

Right from the get-go, the home plate umpire came in for a bit of stick from the Brewers bench for calling a few low pitchers from Lohse as strikes and thi carried on all the way through to Kendall even arguing wth the umpire in extra innings. The cards finished the game with a fielder short so La-Rue played first, miles went to SS and Pujols – yes – Pujols played seconf for the first time in his ML career. All these risks and we still went down 9-8 in the 12th. Sure, this cards side showed they had a lot of character coming from 8-3 down to tie up the game. Unfortunately, Izuturis got hurt by a wild pitch from gagne and a bizarre throw from weeks scored the cards tying run. There is not much more you can pack into 4 and a half hours. I watched the game on TV and was on the edge of my seat all night - literally. Great game, great entertainment, shame we couldnt complete the two game sweep.

Positives – Good comeback, great hitting, franklin looked sharp, showed depth and flexibility of the side

Negatives – the loss must be hard to take after 12. Pujols could have injured himself at 2nd, Lohse pitched dodgily for the first time in a cards uniform.

Final after 12 – St. Louis Cardinals 8 Milwaukee Brewers 9

Now, they must head off to Pittsburgh and take 2/2 before coming home to host the Stros over the weekend. I will update after the pirates series and hopefully looking forward to the weekend

until then…

I think i saw…

WILT – Taylor Swift – Picture to burn

P.S. Congrats to Ms swift on a great night at the cmt awards winning the coveted best video. She deserves it for producing some great country music and im a big fan

So, the 2008 redbirds have finally lost a series – the first of which i hope will not be many, added to which, this series loss came against the team which will probably have the worst record in baseball come september. However, if these kids keep up the pace to which they have started – they will definately not be a pushover for any ballclub. They 2 hitted the cards into the ninth before we finally got some offense going. With any luck we can continue that mini rally into today’s game vs the brew crew, which Wainwright will pitch. Also it is the first time the Cubs look down on us this season….but only by half a game. That should all be corrected by the time we are done tonight Not really much to say except i hope Ankiel has had all the rest he needs to come back and hit a big game tomorrow, we need some of the big bats to start helping out the pitching a little bit – and please try to cut down on the DP’s tonight eh?

Positives – Rico Washington’s double Tray Glaus’s pair, Reyes did ok without his usual fastball, defense good

Negatives – Very little offense, double plays (far too many)

Final – San Francisco Giants 8 St Louis Cardinals 2

until next time…

I think i saw…

WILT – Deep Blue Something – Breakfast at Tiffany’s

This will be by far, the saddest post i ever write. This man has given me so many great memories on the show Leading Off. It is by far the best baseball show we have access to in the UK. I was incredibly saddened to hear of the news that he passed away and he will be greatly missed by all viewers of the show. He will never be forgotten by myself for the many laughs with which both him and Vinny have provided me with. I am sure that everyone has their favourite memories of Johnny. Unfortunately, i never did get to see him play live, that is a great regret for me – although i have seen quite a few highlight clips of Johnny and a lot of his baseball stories which were always incredibly interesting - more than all of this, from the articles i have read, he was a great family man and therefore my sympathy goes out to all of his family and all of his friends including Vinny – all of whom, i cant imagine how saddened they all are at the news.

RIP Johnny Marz and once again my condolances to his family

Well, i was hoping to post my thoughts on a cardinals win but Lincecom was hot today. The only time i ever thought we had a good chance was at the end when the bullpen came out. Every time a runner got on base he would just calmly pitch a DP ball or a SO. Amazing performance, and if what he has done to the cards over the last week is for real – he may end up with over 15 wins this year.

Onto the cards and im happy they gave Rico a start, in for Glaus, he did ok – he looks very good defensively, i think better than Troy but he presumably isn’t there for his defense. Albert had a frustrating night as did the entire offense actually. Piniero did better than his first outing and there is every chance that he could be back to his best in 1 or 2 outings time.

Not much to talk about in the way of superb offense, defense or pitching from the Cardinals. Thompson did well out of the pen, Ankiel made a few great grabs in centre, especially the 1st out on the second pitch – as soon as it left his bat i thought it was a homer or at least a double but Ankiel was playing him just perfect

All i can say is better luck tomorrow – they didnt play a bad ballgame today, they just didnt play a good one and it would have needed something special to touch lincecom today – im just glad that it is the last time we will see lincecom this year, imagine that – done with SanFran for the year after April 20 :-0

Final – San Francisco Giants 3 St. Louis Cardinals 0

Positives – Still got a chance to win series tomorrow, Thompson bounced back well, some good defence plays

Negatives – double plays – too many. ludwick needs to start.

until tomorrow…

I think i saw…

WILT – Taylor Swift – Picture to Burn

Hi all. I did watch the game last Sunday. Piniero was good for the first couple of innings if i remeber correct. I think he may be ok – just needs the starts. He goes again tonight so i guess we’ll see. Apparantly, Ryan is nearing a return as is Springer. Mulder, i would imagine to make his return during the early stages of next month maybe. Now, onto the baseball…

We only managed 2 each with SanFran. This was an ok result – i still felt a series win was definately possible. This was follewed with 2/3 vs the Brew Crew. I managed to see the final game of the series – it was actually broadcast live on our TV. Its quite refreshing to actually watch a game on TV. Lohse pitched real well and for the second time this year, Franklin was unable to help him get the win at home. It is rather worrying me – watching Franklin pitch like this at home.

Last night was better though, the bats started flying and it was real important to get a good start in this Series. The Redbirds still have not lost a series yet and have the most wins in baseball at the moment so you can say that its not all bad news. There is, well, just about every other Major League team who would love to say that.

I predict that we will roll over the Giants again tonight but it may be tougher with Lincecom on the hill. He’s been very good so far this year – not losing a game yet, but Piniero should be better for that outing last Sunday and im expecting him to post his first W of the year.

Finally, it has been a pretty tough week for me with exams and allbut i expect normal service to resume over this weekend and through next week

Until next time…

I think i saw…

WILT – George Strait – Give it away

So, its 1 each. I had expected us to be 2-0 on the series at this stage but the game is not about who should win – it is about going out there to do it. i didn’t see anything of Thursday’s game but i have seen a repeat of Friday’s game. We were helped out yesterday by some really dumb base-running from the Giants mixed with some great defense, offense, pitching and Albert. As soon as he walked to the plate i knew he was going to jump all over the first pitch he saw – hes been doing that a lot more often so far this season, and it seems to have been working. He catches pitchers by surprise and that spells touble if you are in the middle of the diamond. I heard Wainwright did ok on Thursday and Lohse has just been awesome so far this season. I am really obtimistic about this team and where we can go this year – the guys just need to stay healthy and take it a game at a time. I was a little unsure of the positioning last night of Schumaker/Barton – i would have had them hitting the other way around – or Schumaker 9th and Barton as lead off. However, as i dont think Ankiel will have too many off days it might not happen all that often,it will be interesting if Ludwick is given the day off and the OF 3 are Ankiel, Barton and Schumaker, just where he wood accomodate for those guys in the lineup. There is no doubt if they stay healthy that Ankiel, Pujols and Glaus are going to be the RBI men this year. All eyes will be on Piniero tomorrow and i will be watching to cover that game – the finale of the series.

Until then…

I think i saw…

WILT - I’m With You – Avril Lavigne